Chapter 388: A Goddess's Notes
The following morning at 10:00 AM, Sophia manifested precisely on schedule at
the library's second-floor reading room.
The space was modest, configured with approximately thirty chairs, over half of
which were occupied. The demographic was a heterogeneous mix: several human
students in Academy uniforms, two Elves, a Dwarf, and three High-Tier Undead—not
basic skeletons, but evolved entities that retained traces of their previous
biological traits.
Sophia selected a window seat in the penultimate row. Several vacant slots
separated her from the main group, providing an optimal field of vision and a
clear path for a tactical exit if required.
The lecturer was a middle-aged human male wearing the formal instructor uniform
of the Evernight Academy. He adjusted his glasses and tapped a stack of lecture
notes against the podium to align them.
"Greetings, everyone. I am Chen Mingyuan, Senior Lecturer of the Department of
Administrative Affairs at Evernight Academy," he began, his voice clear and
professional. "Today's session audits the Fundamental Framework of the Empire's
Cross-Planar Diplomatic Protocols, and the functional role of the Evernight
Transit Hub within that system."
Sophia had brought a pen and a small notebook issued by the Relief Station. She
initialized her "Recording Protocol."
Chen Mingyuan proceeded: "The Empire's cross-planar diplomacy initialized two
years ago. At that time, the Sovereign personally led the legions to the
Eldritch Realm, completing a total 'Order Reconstruction' of that plane. This
marked the first instance of the Empire officially intervening in the variables
of an external reality."
Sophia's pen paused. Personally led the legions. To another plane. Order
Reconstruction. She circled those keywords.
"Once the parameters of the Eldritch Realm stabilized, the Empire realized that
cross-planar interaction should not be a unidirectional, military-weighted
variable. Instead, a normalized, peaceful exchange mechanism was required. The
concept of the Evernight Transit Hub was manifested from this logic."
Chen Mingyuan flipped a page of his notes. "The Hub possesses three core
functions. First: Logistical Node. Travelers and assets from all planes are
processed and redirected through this center. Second: Information Exchange.
Knowledge, technology, and culture are synchronized and shared across planar
boundaries. Third: Security Buffer. The Hub enforces a rigid audit and
monitoring system, ensuring that cross-planar manifestations do not trigger
safety logic errors."
Sophia's notes were filling the pages at high speed. A student raised a hand.
"Instructor Chen, theoretically, how many planes can the Hub's teleportation
arrays link to?"
Chen Mingyuan adjusted his glasses. "Theoretically, there is no terminal cap.
However, in practice, every additional planar channel increases Mana consumption
and maintenance overhead. Currently, the Empire operates three stable channels:
the Eldritch Realm, the Necrotic Realm, and an 'Unnamed Plane' currently
undergoing preliminary contact audits."
The Necrotic Realm. Sophia drew a heavy line under the term. The Empire had a
stable link to a realm of the dead? What kind of sector was that? She searched
her Old Era archives but found zero matches. She knew other planes existed, but
in her time, crossing planar barriers was an exclusive Authority of the Gods.
Now, a multi-racial Empire was doing it as a standard administrative function.
The lecture lasted approximately one hour. Chen Mingyuan was meticulous,
covering everything from the policy framework to specific execution, from
diplomatic etiquette to trade regulations. Sophia's notebook was now dense with
six pages of data.
As the session concluded, students swarmed the instructor with queries. Sophia
remained in her seat, auditing her own notes. The more she processed the data,
the more improbable it seemed.
The Evernight Empire was not a simple military hegemony. It possessed a
comprehensive administrative hierarchy, educational institutions, a robust legal
framework, economic planning, and sophisticated diplomatic strategies.
And all of this had been manifested in less than five years.
Five years.
Sophia had spent ten thousand years establishing a crude faith system in
Lostarn, only to hand it over to a Theocracy that eventually converted it into a
"Malignant Tumor." Yet this Sovereign had achieved total global synchronization
and inter-planar expansion in half a decade.
Sophia closed her notebook and leaned back. Her emotional sub-routines were a
chaotic mess. Part of her was in a state of "High Alert"—this Sovereign was too
capable. His military and political stats were terrifying. Another part of her
felt… she couldn't label it. Envy? Resentment? Perhaps both.
But the largest component was self-reflection. When she architected the Lostarn
Faith, had she ever factored in the quality of life of her believers? The audit
result: Negative. She had only prioritized the "Faith-to-Od" conversion rate. As
long as the Od flowed into her Divine Realm, she was indifferent to how the
clerics exploited the masses.
And yet, in the Empire of a "Skeleton"—a race that should have been the lowest
tier of existence in her era—even the relief stations distributed free apples.
Sophia tucked her notebook away and exited the reading room.
Passing the front desk, the Elven administrator looked up. "Assessment of the
lecture?"
"Optimal," Sophia replied.
"There is another session next Wednesday regarding the History of Imperial
Mana-Tech Development. Should I reserve a slot for you?"
"Affirmative."
"Understood. I will lock in your seat."
Sophia exited the library and stood on the steps. The sunlight was pleasant, the
wind speed low. She patted her notebook and turned toward West Street. She
intended to audit the job postings—not the high-stakes Hub positions, but
something local.
On the way, she passed a central plaza. In the center stood a statue. Not of a
human hero, but of a Skeleton.
The monument was colossal—three meters tall, carved from obsidian-black stone.
The Skeleton held a longsword, the tip pointed toward the ground in a defensive,
guardian posture. The base was etched with a single line:
[IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FOUNDING OF THE EVERNIGHT EMPIRE]
Sophia stared at the statue. A monument to a skeleton, standing in the heart of
a multi-racial town. No one manifested fear. No one found it anomalous. Children
played around the base, and an elderly man sat on a nearby bench, soaking in the
sunlight.
Sophia continued her gait. On the West Street notice board, several local
recruitment ads were posted beside the Transit Hub notice.
- Bakery: Seeking Apprentice.
- Blacksmith: Seeking Assistant.
- Town Clinic: Seeking Nursing Aide.
- Evernight Academy (Orlando Branch): Seeking Library Assistant.
Sophia's finger stopped on the last entry. Vocation: Library Assistant.
Requirements: Literacy, physical capacity for book-transport, patience.
Compensation: Room & Board provided, 8 Silver Coins per cycle.
She compared the data: the bakery apprentice offered 5 silver coins. The library
position provided access to a massive volume of archives and information in a
low-noise environment, requiring zero display of power.
Perfect.
Sophia tore off the application slip and headed toward the address. Halfway
there, she suddenly froze.
The air behind her shimmered.
It was faint, a micro-second of fluctuation—the sensation of a Global Scan-Wave
passing through the sector. Sophia's spine stiffened, but she maintained her
gait. Her expression remained neutral, her respiratory rhythm unchanged.
The scanning wave swept through her frame, didn't linger, and continued its
trajectory until it vanished into the horizon.
Sophia's heart hammered against her ribs. That was an Arcane Legion Global
Sweep.
They were hunting her. Or rather, they were hunting the "Entity" that had
triggered the earlier anomaly.
But they had failed to localize her. Sophia had compressed her Od to a level
lower than a baseline human. The microscopic divine spark deep within her soul
was buried under layers of biological masquerade; even the most sensitive
detection arrays would only register a "Baseline Human" signature.
The scan-wave was gone.
Sophia continued walking, her pace steady, matching the surrounding pedestrians
perfectly.
But her palms were drenched in sweat.
Protocol: Maximum Gou. Integration sequence initiated.